Saturday, February 13, 2010

Poms discover the Mad Monk

Writing on the guardian.com.au website Julian Glover has sent a warning to the knockers of would be British PM Tory leader David Cameron that it could be worse-they could end up with a Tony Abbott clone ! Glover has concurred with tSS's view of both Abbott and former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull :

" Australia's opposition Liberal party tried to live in the centre for a few months last year under its former leader Malcolm Turnbull, a rich, cocky Sydney lawyer with plenty of faults but nonetheless the potential to be something like his country's Cameron. A modernizing and intelligent man, he fell in a party coup, which was largely about climate change, last November, and has been replaced by Tony Abbott, whose iron-man physique and much-mocked "budgie smuggler" tight swim wear is only equaled by the firmness of his views. He notoriously described climate change as "absolute crap".

And he quotes the madcap Barnaby Joyce (left)National Party leader and opposition finance spokesman who already has Chinese's mandarins in a tizzy over anti-import statements :

"He ( Abbott) tore into Rudd in parliament last week over emissions trading; his finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce (a sort of Australian redneck Boris) even held a press conference on emissions trading to announce that home insulation "is the fluffy stuff that sits in the ceiling for rats to urinate on"."

Barnaby gets another mention for his quip outside Parliament last week

"every time you open the fridge and a little light goes on, it is to remind you that Mr Rudd is taxing you and also to stop the butter from getting scared"

Glover warns against Brits that of they don't vote for Cameron in the right numbers and he becomes a PM without power the vacuum could be filled with an extremist : "You might not love Cameron, but you should hope he succeeds. Come to Canberra, and you'll find out why". What fun.

Tony Abbott is a disciple of the very strange BA.Sanatamaria, (left) the late powerful right-wing Catholic activist who was variously anti-communist and anti-capitalist. Abbott also studied to be a priest.

We only wish former treasurer Peter Costello was still in politics and ran on a ticket with Tony-who could resist the campaign poster :